Chapter 2. Expedient Means
The second chapter is titled “Expedient Means.” When the dialogue between Manjushri and Maitreya concluded, the World-Honored One rose serenely from his samadhi. Upon emerging, he addressed Shariputra, the foremost in wisdom among the ten great Shravaka disciples:
The wisdom of the Buddhas is extremely profound and vast. The gateway to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. No Shravaka or Pratyekabuddha can fathom the Buddha’s intent. This is because the Buddhas have served hundreds of thousands of billions of countless Buddhas, courageously and diligently practicing every one of those Buddhas’ infinite expedient methods. Their names are heard everywhere. Thus, they have accomplished all these profound and inconceivable dharmas. They often preach the Dharma merely according to the capacities of sentient beings and according to conditions, but the true intent of the Buddha is difficult to know. Even if everyone in the world were as clever and wise as you, Shariputra, and if everyone in the world joined together to contemplate and measure the Buddha’s wisdom, it would still remain unknowable.
Shariputra, since I attained Buddhahood, I have used various causes, various parables, and extensive teachings, employing countless expedient means to guide sentient beings and lead them away from various attachments. This is because the Tathagata is fully endowed with the Paramita of Knowledge, Insight, and Expedient Means. Shariputra, the Tathagata’s knowledge and insight are vast and profound, infinite and unhindered. He has attained the Powers and Fearlessnesses. His meditation, liberation, and samadhi are deep and boundless, and he has accomplished all inconceivable and wonderful dharmas.
Shariputra, the Tathagata can preach the Dharma according to various differences, and his words are gentle, making the hearts of sentient beings joyful and submissive.
Shariputra, in short, the Buddha has accomplished infinite, boundless, and inconceivable dharmas. Stop! Shariputra, if you wish to ask what these dharmas are, there is no need. For the primary, rare, and difficult-to-understand dharma accomplished by the Buddha can only be shared and explored between Buddhas to reach the ultimate reality of all dharmas.
In truth, the appearance, nature, essence, power, activity, cause, condition, effect, retribution, and the ultimate consistency from beginning to end of all dharmas are fundamentally the same and eternally abiding.
The Buddha emerged from samadhi. Because there were many beings in the assembly from across the three realms and six paths, the Buddha sometimes addressed a specific path of beings. Now, the Buddha is mainly addressing the Shravaka disciples. As soon as he emerged, he told Shariputra—the wisest among the ten great disciples —that his wisdom is extremely high, difficult to understand, and difficult to enter. Even if everyone in the world were as wise as Shariputra and tried together to measure it, they could not. Furthermore, the Tathagata’s insight and realization are vast and limitless, and he has accomplished countless skillful expedient means to allow all beings to attain liberation through different gateways. The Tathagata has thoroughly realized the highest truth of the universe, which no Shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, Arhat, or non-retrogressive Bodhisattva can measure. The Buddha has accomplished the world’s most rare and difficult dharma, and only a Buddha and a Buddha together can exhaustively study the true reality of the universe; only they can truly understand one another.
Here, the text introduces the famous “Ten Suchnesses” of Buddhism. This means that all phenomena possess ten types of true, pure, and unconditioned reality. These are: suchness of appearance, nature, essence, power, activity, cause, condition, effect, retribution, and their ultimate consistency from beginning to end. What does this mean? It means that everything in this world, including every speck of dust, possesses these ten attributes of pure non-action. “Pure” means you no longer make discriminatory attachments—thinking neither of good nor of evil, but dwelling in a state of “thusness,” unmoved. “Non-action” means there is no more arising or ceasing. If you perceive things as impure and believe everything is caught in the cycle of birth and death, it is because you see this world as the Five Turbidities. In the eyes of the Tathagata, everything is pure and unconditioned in all its marks; thus, the Saha world is also a Pure Land. The “Five Turbidities” you perceive are due to our own lack of purity—it is your mind and your six senses that are not pure, which causes you to see a turbid world.
Therefore, the world of Shakyamuni Buddha is just as pure as all other Buddha-lands, including Amitabha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss. It is a Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. It is only because our minds are not pure, our eyes are not pure, and our six sense organs are not pure that we fail to see the Pure Land. In reality, all appearances in this world are pure and unconditioned; they are the True Reality—the True Reality of All Phenomena, endowed with the Ten Suchnesses. Later, in the “Chapter on the Life Span of the Tathagata,” the Buddha tells us that when sentient beings see the world being consumed by the fires at the end of a turbid kalpa, his world remains untouched. His pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is still there; what people see as destruction is merely an illusion.
At this point, the Hinayana disciples began to feel doubt. They wondered: “Was what the Buddha taught us before not what he realized? Was it not the Buddha-dharma? You have taught us for so long; we have attained the fruit of Arhatship and feel we have achieved liberation, realizing the state where ‘tranquil extinction is bliss.’ Could it be that what you taught before was not that rare Dharma you realized? Why won’t you speak of it? Why not tell us?” Sariputra stood up as their representative and asked: “Lord, were the things you taught us before not what you realized? We were able to understand them, but now that you speak this way, we are truly confused! Please, tell us what rare and difficult-to-understand Dharma you have realized.”
The Buddha replied, “Let it be. It is not that I am stingy with the Dharma, but the realm realized by the Buddha is too subtle and inconceivable; it is beyond the reach of discriminatory thought and cannot be known through the level of conscious intellect. If I were to speak of it, those disciples of overweening pride would give rise to thoughts of slight and disbelief because they would not believe it.” The original text says: “Stop, stop, no need to speak. My Dharma is subtle and difficult to conceive. Those of overweening pride, hearing it, will surely not believe it with respect.” Because the Buddha speaks of the highest vision, if arrogant people simply disbelieve, that is one thing; but if they slander the Dharma, the retribution is severe. Thus, out of compassion, the Buddha said, “Let it be. It is not that I am stingy and do not want to speak, but I dare not. If I speak and those of overweening pride—those who do not believe—harbor doubts, that is still manageable; but if they fall into hell because of slandering this Dharma, the consequences are even worse. So, let us not speak of it.” Sariputra pleaded again and again: “Lord, please speak. We have always revered and respected you; we have great faith in you and will believe your words. No matter what you say, we will certainly receive and uphold it.” In this way, he requested the turning of the Wheel of Dharma three consecutive times.
The Buddha then said, “Since you have requested three times, I have no choice but to speak.” At that moment, an interesting scene occurred in the Lotus Assembly: five thousand bhikshus rose from their seats and left. The Buddha did not stop them, nor did he say, “I am about to teach the highest Dharma, stay quickly!” He simply watched them leave in silence and then said that it was just as well for these self-important people to leave. Now, those who remained were all “fruit,” no longer “scorched sprouts and rotten seeds.” The disciples who left lacked sufficient merit.
Those who departed surely did so with various mindsets. Some might have thought, “I didn’t even understand what the teacher said yesterday; I’ll go back and review that.” Some Hinayana Arhats, having already attained the bliss of tranquil extinction, viewed the Buddha’s opening—with its radiating light and earth-shaking signs— and his claim of a hidden “highest method” as mere illusory phenomena. Believing they were already liberated through tranquil extinction, they were uninterested and self-satisfied, so they left to practice meditation. It wasn’t necessarily that they didn’t believe the Buddha, but rather that they were uninterested. With a Hinayana mindset, they thought, “As long as I am liberated, it is enough.” This gave rise to an unequal mind. They were not dwelling in the present moment; they were caught in thoughts of the past and future.
After they left, the Buddha began to give predictions to his disciples. Do you know what a prediction is? It is as if you were a Dharma Prince—a crown prince! A prediction is the Buddha placing the crown on your head, telling you to ascend the throne and become a king. Do you realize the weight of such a prediction? Just as the Buddha was about to pass on the succession, those disciples left the assembly—is that not a lack of merit? The Buddha then began to teach his most rare and supreme Dharma. He said: “What is the sole mission for which the Tathagata appears in the world? It is the desire to cause sentient beings to open their inherent Buddha-knowledge and vision and be liberated from all afflictions. I appear in the world to let sentient beings enter my vision so that they, like me, may ultimately become Buddhas. I have come to this world to cross you over so that you may become Buddhas, not just to have you realize the fruit of Arhatship or the stages of a Bodhisattva. My mission is for you to achieve Unsurpassed, Complete, Perfect Enlightenment, just as I have.
“Therefore, if you say you want to resolve the cycle of reincarnation, transcend life and death, or attain supernatural powers, the Buddha will agree and say, ‘Fine, come and learn with me and you can achieve these.’ But ultimately, the purpose of my appearance is to lead you to Buddhahood. ‘One first leads them with desire, then brings them into the Buddha’s wisdom.’ Because you have these desires, I say, ‘Okay, come in first!’ and have you dwell in the practice of the Buddha-dharma. I am here to break your attachments—your attachment to the cycle of birth and death, to the idea of transcending birth and death, and to the view of reincarnation. You believe there is a ‘self,’ so you believe there is reincarnation, life and death, and arising and ceasing. But since the ‘self’ is originally illusory, you entered because of that desire. I told you that by practicing for the fruit of Arhatship, you could find bliss in tranquil extinction and be liberated from suffering, or by practicing as a Pratyekabuddha, you could end life and death, and so on. In truth, satisfying these wishes was only to allow you to settle and practice within the vision of the One Buddha Vehicle. Ultimately, by breaking these attachments, your original Buddha-nature is revealed. It was all for the sake of making you Buddhas.
“The fruits of Arhatship, Pratyekabuddhahood, and the various Bodhisattva stages are merely toys given to you. If I told you to become a Buddha at the very beginning, when you don’t even understand yourself, how could you understand the realm of a Buddha? When you don’t even know who you are, how could you possibly know the Tathagata’s vision from the start?” Because sentient beings have various desires and deep inner attachments, the Buddha —according to their different points of attachment—uses various causes and conditions, parables, words, and skillful means to break these different attachments. Once these attachments are broken, all will become Buddhas. This is what the Buddha said! Because he had to teach the Hinayana disciples, he told them that those stages could not provide ultimate liberation—the toys of the Hinayana, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the Bodhisattva Vehicle are all insufficient; all will eventually find liberation in the One Buddha Vehicle. Let us briefly explain the concepts of these three vehicles.
In the beginning, when the Buddha started teaching, there were no written scriptures. All disciples practiced by hearing with their ears and remembering in their hearts—recalling what the Buddha said. Thus, they were called “Sravaka” (Hearer) disciples. For the early Hinayana disciples, because India at that time was divided into four rigid castes and people had a deep understanding of suffering, the Buddha taught about suffering. He categorized human suffering into the “Eight Sufferings.” Everyone knows the four great sufferings of being human: birth, old age, sickness, and death. Then there is the suffering of being parted from what one loves; the suffering of not getting what one seeks; the suffering of being associated with what one hates (having to face enemies or people one dislikes every day); the suffering of not seeing what one likes; and the suffering of the blazing Five Aggregates. The Five Aggregates are Form, Sensation, Perception, Mental Formations, and Consciousness—the sum of all the physical sensations and perceptions of this body. Everyone experiences these sufferings throughout their life. Birth, old age, sickness, death, parting from loved ones, not getting what one wants, and meeting what one dislikes are all loaded together, which is also called the “suffering of the blazing Five Aggregates.”
When those Hinayana disciples heard the Buddha speak of this, they thought: “Yes, this makes sense; we do have these sufferings.” Then the Buddha asked: “Do you wish to leave suffering and attain bliss? If you practice with me, you can eliminate these sufferings. These sufferings exist because of karma and reincarnation. If you practice with me, you can leave suffering and find bliss.” The Hinayana disciples understood suffering deeply. They first gave rise to the heart that seeks to emerge from all suffering and be liberated from reincarnation. By no longer undergoing these sufferings and no longer reincarnating, they attained the fruit ofArhatship. Arhatship is the realization that “tranquil extinction is bliss”—when arising and ceasing have ceased, tranquil extinction is bliss, leaving suffering and attaining happiness. But in what way are Sravaka disciples not ultimate? It is because they do not know that this suffering comes from the existence of a “self.” It is only because there is a self that there is suffering. In the highest teaching of the Buddha, we are “selfless”; we are the Tathagata! If there is no self, suffering does not exist. Therefore, you must first sever the self before you can leave suffering. If you start by saying “I have suffering” and “I want to leave suffering,” you already have the concept of “leaving,” which means your practice is not yet ultimate. The bliss you ultimately realize exists only relatively; you have not yet truly been liberated from reincarnation. Only by shattering the self can one be liberated from reincarnation.
What is the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle? Pratyekabuddha disciples do not perceive suffering as deeply; perhaps their lives are more affluent. They might feel, “I am not suffering, why should I practice the Way?” But they will contemplate how human life began and what its meaning is. The Buddha taught them the Law of Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and they are called “Pratyekabuddhas” (Solitary Realizers). Disciples who practice this path find it logical: “If I sever one of these links, will my reincarnation cease to exist? If I am not born, I will not die.” They practice and contemplate in this way, using the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination to enter the Way. They believe that severing one link allows for liberation from reincarnation, and they attain the fruit of a Pratyekabuddha, believing they are liberated. But this vision is also not ultimate. If there is no “self,” the twelve links are also illusory. Each link is originally empty and illusory; you cannot “sever” them. Can you sever empty space? If there is no self, that is our starting point of recognition. Why do we usually say it is easy to conquer the world but hard to conquer the self? It is because the self is illusory. Can you fight with empty space? No one can win a battle against empty space, because the self is illusory; you cannot conquer an illusion—the self does not exist. Thus, Manjusri Bodhisattva’s sword of wisdom is always held upright. We speak of “cutting through afflictions,” but your afflictions are illusory; you cannot cut them. Trying to cut them only increases the affliction and adds more trouble. It is when you are in the midst of affliction and one day suddenly realize that the affliction is an illusion —it is illusory—that is called “cutting through affliction.” So many scriptures say, “It is not this, it is called this.” Holding the sword represents using wisdom to see clearly that your affliction is a dream or an illusion. At that moment, it is “called cutting through affliction.” It is not done by striking down; it is through your realization of the principle—using wisdom to understand—that you can cut through the afflictions of this world. Every link is originally empty, so you cannot cut them. If you have the thought of “severing,” you are still within reincarnation and within the concept of a “self.” Your ego-attachment is not yet broken, and your Buddha-nature cannot be revealed; thus, you are not liberated from reincarnation.
However, one can obtain the fruit of a Pratyekabuddha, which is a toy given by the Buddha. But even this stage is very powerful! For example, take the fruit of Arhatship: an Arhat’s power of concentration is already very strong. They can dwell in Samadhi for eighty thousand great kalpas without emerging, thus avoiding reincarnation. They have “fled” by sitting in Samadhi; because they do not emerge, there is no arising or ceasing, no reincarnation, and they escape for eighty thousand great kalpas. We, on the other hand, cannot control ourselves. Once this life is over, we rotate again within the six realms; we cannot resist the flow of karma that carries us along. We cannot unless we have wisdom, jumping outside the three realms and no longer being within the five elements. An Arhat has the power of meditative concentration to resist the harms of the world’s passions and so on. All the afflictions of this world—the habits and desires of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt—cannot move an Arhat, even if the “eight winds” blow. Those harms of passion and desire, when they reach them, can only move a single hair on their body. Their power of concentration is exceptionally strong, which is why they are called “foremost among humans.”
The same applies to Pratyekabuddhas. Their ability to endure this world is not something ordinary people can compare to. Thus, these Hinayana disciples are actually very capable. When they hear the supreme teaching, they only need to shift their perspective and they are close to attaining the Way—they have already realized it. We, however, still need to slowly accumulate merit, brick by brick, to build and reveal our Thirty-two Marks and Eighty Minor Characteristics, because those require merit to be manifested; they are the “Buddha-fruit.” Knowing this vision is like knowing the foundation of a house; the foundation is there, and then you must build the building on top. You know how many floors you will build, and you need to lay it brick by brick to make the building appear. Each brick is a piece of merit. Because you are the Tathagata, you then use merit to manifest a form that is perfect in its Three Bodies within time and space. We are actually attached to appearances, saying we don’t seem like Buddhas yet, but in truth, we already are. We must continually and perfectly realize this vision and shatter our ignorance. The scriptures are constantly explaining this.
Bodhisattva Vehicle disciples enter the world to practice the Bodhisattva Way, universally saving sentient beings and seeking to realize the fruit of Unsurpassed, Complete, Perfect Enlightenment. The Bodhisattva Way is for Great Bodhisattvas who seek to realize supreme enlightenment, not just to transcend life and death or leave suffering. However, if they have a mind that enters the world to practice the Bodhisattva Way—a mind that sees sentient beings to be saved and a Buddha-fruit to be obtained—then they are attached to appearances. All sentient beings are Buddhas; originally, there are no sentient beings to be saved and no Buddha-fruit to be obtained, “because there is nothing to be attained.” This is the state of final achievement. If a Bodhisattva believes there are sentient beings to be saved or a Buddha-fruit to be attained, they cannot thoroughly and perfectly realize Unsurpassed, Complete, Perfect Enlightenment.
The original Dharma-nature of each of us is expressed in Buddhism as the “Ocean of Nature.” Because our self-nature is the Buddha, each of us is the Tathagata—”Tathagata” and “Buddha” are the same, just two different terms. If our self-nature is the Buddha, what does this Buddha look like? Formless and markless, boundless and limitless, omnipresent, perfect in merit, and complete in all things. Buddhist teachings divide sentient beings into three realms and six paths. Sentient beings in each path have different attachments, and thus different forms
.…manifest as different states and different paths. For example, we beings in the human realm share common attachments, which is why we manifest this shared, collective world. Thus, each of the six realms has its own “way,” and the way of each realm is illusory; none of them represent the ultimate truth. If you say you are acting according to the “way” of the human realm, that is only “truth” within the human realm. Within the Dharma-nature, the human realm is merely one of many paths. Therefore, your perception of time and space, and all your viewpoints, are limited to the human realm. Once you transcend the human realm, those viewpoints no longer hold; you are no longer speaking of the truth of the Three Realms and Six Paths. Only the Buddha speaks the ultimate truth; you are merely speaking of human ways. Even if you are a sage, you are only speaking of human principles. Each of the Three Realms and Six Paths has its own way.
When the Buddha sought to deliver us—for instance, when followers of the Sravaka vehicle were attached to avoiding suffering and seeking bliss—he broke their attachment by teaching them “Suffering, Cause, Cessation, and the Path,” the “Four Noble Truths.” When a Sravaka disciple completely breaks through these attachments, if they had only those specific attachments, then upon shattering them, they return to the Sea of Nature. They were in the Sea of Nature all along! In the end, it is within the Sea of Nature that they find liberation.
Originally, we are all within the Sea of Nature, but the “self” is our most terrible dream. When we break through some small attachments, we are merely solving a problem within the dream; this is called “small enlightenment.” Where is the greatest dream? The greatest attachment lies in the self, in time, and in space! It is because there is a “self” and there is “time and space” that there is birth, death, and reincarnation. Yet this perception of “self” is an illusion; we have simply misidentified ourselves from the start. If there is a self, then that self possesses time and space. Because there is birth, there is death. Birth exists in the past, and death in the future; without birth, how can there be death? Thus, when there is no past and no future, birth and death are finished. Since we are neither born nor do we die, have we not already emerged from the cycle of birth and death? Therefore, time and space must first be shattered. By breaking through this self, we return to the Sea of Nature of Perfect Enlightenment, returning to our original Buddha-nature.